Gary Player

Watching and listening to Garry Player being interviewed at The Open a couple of days ago I was struck by the abundance of confidence he carries around. His prowess at golf is legendary but his confidence in his religious belief and his life style is equally prodigious.
I would think he is not an easy man to live with. His generosity is on his own terms, you have to earn it by doing 160 press ups before breakfast. His intensity and focus in what he believes in is clear to see and like all fanatics he has divine surety on his side, brooking little or no dissent.
Given a "purpose" in life through his religiosity everything is black and white and you can see him waiting to categorise you, to which side of the fence you sit, you are either for us or against us and I would think in Garry's book there is no crossover.
His description of his fitness regime is an example of his machismo. He delights in watching the reaction to stories of leg pressing 400 pounds 100 times and doing a 1000 sit-ups to start off his day. His eyes twinkle as they assess your incredulity but it is a measure of the man that he has set himself these goals and with almost messianic determination has achieved a whole set of records both personal and athletic.
He is one of the best golfers, his record speaks for itself. His association with Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus, and the tremendous golfing contests they had throughout the years 1957 - 1986 becoming great friends they somehow didn't let the contest get in the way of the deep respect they must have for each other.
The ebullient Palmer, the polite, reticent Nicklaus and the ferocious self belief of Player would seem strange bed fellows but somehow the acknowledgement that they were each, very special on the golf course sifted out their phycological differences and made them life long friends.
I would think given Garry Players almost pathological desire to push himself he would have acquaintances rather than friends (perhaps his iconic status brings with it a cult of something akin to worship) since to be a friend, he would be a hard task-master.
His conceited is never far below the surface and this must make him very tiring but like his fitness regime which has produced a honed 50 year-old in a 80 year-old body, his passionate positivity and religious surety has sharpened his mind to admit no errors, as he sees it a set of truisms to which you would contest at your peril.